Ski Safari iOS review

Ski Safari is currently the most popular game in the App Store’s paid apps section (it’s 69p, incidentally), so that means it’s great, right? Much like Coronation Street and Eastenders are the best things on TV, right? And Lady Gaga is as good as music gets. Am I right?

Utterly nonsensical opening paragraph aside (sorry), if you’d told me a few hours ago I’d quite enjoy yet another game in the vein of Tiny Wings and Jetpack Joyride, I would’ve punched you in the crown jewels. Would that punch have been deserved? Read on…

In short, the answer is: no. No, you wouldn’t have deserved that punch to the crown jewels, and I’m sorry it happened. Let’s put the past in the past and talk Ski Safari.

In Ski Safari, described by Defiant Development as the “spiritual succesor to Rocket Bunnies”, you’re tasked with skiing away from an avalanche. That’s pretty much it, in ye oldeth nutshell.

Of course, there are various hazards in the way, such as rocks, and you can crank things up a notch by hitching a ride with a penguin, yeti and/or eagle. There’s also a snowmobile for good measure.

It probably doesn’t sound particularly innovative, and deep down – I guess it ain’t. In fact, I probably would’ve played Ski Safari twice and dismissed it altogether was it not for the leveling system.

See, Ski Safari borrows quite unashamedly from Jetpack Joyride, giving you a number of tasks to complete in order to gain stars and ultimately level up.

Fortunately, this takes the focus away from simply lasting for as long as possible, because those games are dull, dull, dull.

Au contraire, Ski Safari is actually quite moreish. As you level up, you unlock the ability to start with each of the aforementioned animals, and there’s the all-important score multiplier too.

Of course, once you’ve leveled up, Ski Safari does become simply about high scores, but it’ll take you a good few hours to get there.

Gripes? Like I say, Ski Safari isn’t the most original game, but otherwise it’s a lot of fun. Surprisingly. Oh, and Defiant Development quite proudly boasts that Ski Safari has no ads or freemium junk. Good stuff.

Pros

Looks good

Nice leveling system

Ideal in short bursts

No ads or freemium junk

Cons

Not a massive amount to do

Seen it all before

Summary: It's far from original, but Ski Safari is right up there with the best in whatever the heck this genre is called.